Prunedale man gets probation for shooting goat, goatherd

An 88-year-old Prunedale man was sentenced to felony probation on Wednesday in connection with the January shooting of a goatherd and his goat.

Wearing his usual red suspenders, Phillip "Bud" Dexter appeared in Judge Pamela Butler's courtroom, where he was credited for two days spent in jail and sentenced to six months' felony probation, his attorney Larry Biegel said.

Dexter, who at one point faced far more serious charges, earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of negligently discharging a firearm.

Dexter, who said his only previous offense was running a stop sign, at first faced an attempted murder count and was charged initially with cruelty to animals and gun enhancements.

The crime took place New Year's Day, when Prunedale resident Cesario Diaz suffered shotgun wounds after he and a female goat were shot near the edge of Dexter's land.

Biegel said when the goats wandered onto Dexter's Avery Lane property that day, it was the culmination of a long-running problem.

The goats belonged to a renter on an adjacent lot and were cared for by Diaz.

"Big gaps" in the fence between the two properties allowed the goats to "go to the lush pastures of the Dexter orchard," Biegel said.

Dexter called animal control officers who, he said, told Diaz to pen the animals.

Afterward, the goats' owner noticed something was wrong with one of the animals.

"One of his goats was complaining of pain," a sheriff's report states.

The owner felt a pellet inside the goat's udder and massaged it until it came out, the report said.

Officials said the goat was "doing fine" after the incident.

Diaz ended up at Natividad Medical Center in Salinas, where a deputy interviewed him and reported Diaz said he may have wandered onto Dexter's land in an attempt to "escort the goats off the property."

Dexter agreed to pay $5,500 in restitution fines, Biegel said.

When Dexter showed up at a bail hearing earlier this year, prosecutors kept a straight face when they requested Dexter be ordered to have no contact with Diaz "or the goat."

"He had never seen the victim prior to firing the shots," he said. "And he never even intended to shoot a goat. ... Everybody concluded that. When you're firing into a stand of trees, 99 percent of the time you don't hit anything."

Diaz did not appear at Dexter's sentencing.

If Dexter successfully completes probation and pays off his restitution, the court agrees it will reduce his conviction to a misdemeanor.

Part of Dexter's probation terms include getting rid of the gun.

Biegel said a hearing will be held Aug. 14 to determine if Dexter's son, a former probation officer, will be allowed to have his father's Remington shotgun.

"That gun is ancient," Biegel said. His client, he said, is "fine with not having any more guns around."